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Listen

Love knows no giving
up. For me, if you love, it means that you won’t give up trying and giving your
best efforts to look after and foster the love, instead of making some game by
spreading false hope toward other people. Love makes the priority. For me, if
you love, it means that you make the feeling of your loved ones as your
priority, instead of making somebody else’s game as a more important thing than
the feeling of the one you love. Love becomes the core of every choice. For me,
if you love, it means that you choose the person to be with them because of
love, purely and sincerely and truly, instead of choosing to be with someone
because of the sense of obligation or under some circumstances or conditions or
situations. Loves builds understanding. For me, if you love, it means that you
understand, and in order to be able to understand, you have to be willing to
listen first; because for some people like me, it’s hard to speak up our most
sincere feeling. For it hurts so much when our voice is rejected, particularly
by the one we hold most dear.

“Listen, I am alone at
a crossroads, I’m not at home in my own home. And I’ve tried and tried to say
what’s on my mind, you should have known. Oh, now I’m done believing you, you
don’t know what I’m feeling. I’m more than what you’ve made of me. I followed
the voice you gave to me, but now I gotta find my own.” –Beyonce, Listen

This very emotional yet passionate song is titled “Listen”, performed
by one and only the queen Beyonce. It was released on January 19th 2007 as the
lead single taken from the “Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture”
soundtrack album. It additionally appeared as a hidden track on
international editions, and on the deluxe edition of Beyonce’s second solo
studio album, “B’Day”. The R n’ B soul track was written by queen Bey
herself along with Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler, and Anne Preven. Lyrically, the
song makes reference to tenacity, love, the refusal to defer dreams and finally
rise towards fame. Generally speaking, its lyrics follow the story of a woman
who demands her lover to listen to her as she tries hard to speak up her mind,
for it hurts so much when her lover doesn’t listen.

"Listen" single cover | source: en.wikipedia.org

Based on my
experience for these 28 years of my life, the thing that is going to kill a
relationship (any kind of relationship) is not the absence of the person we’re
in relationship physically, but the absence of the willingness to listen to
each other. I personally think that a relationship needs certain amount of
understanding from both parties toward each other. And in order to be able to
understand, we need to be willing to listen first; because nobody walks in
other people’s shoes, hence no one can actually feel what it’s like to be the
other person. That is why we need to understand and be understood. That is why
we need to listen and be listened. And it’s actually hurt when your voice
cannot be heard, particularly by someone significant. “Listen to the song here in my heart, a melody I start but can’t
complete. Listen to the sound from deep within, it’s only beginning to find
release. Oh, the time has come for my dreams to be heard. They will not be
pushed aside and turned into your own, all ‘cause you won’t listen.”

And yes, there are
times when two people in a relationship are having an argument or a big fight,
and they just cannot seem to listen to one another because they are too busy
with their own personal emotions they harbor toward one another. And I
understand it all too well that it takes time for emotions to come down and the
rationality takes over, but when it finally happens, we should start to listen.
And just by then, we can start to understand; before it’s all too late that we
become apathetic towards all. For when we got apathetic, that is actually the
most dangerous thing for the relationship. And that is what can actually kill
the relationship. It’s not only pushing aside our significant other, but it’s
also killing them softly from the inside. And it’s all because we won’t listen.
It’s all because we can’t understand. “You
should have listened. There is someone here inside; someone I thought had died
so long ago. Oh, I’m screaming out, and my dreams will be heard. They will not
be pushed aside or worse into your own all ‘cause you won’t listen.”

The impact for not
being able to listen is very dangerous for the relationship. It gives a great
impact toward the self of our significant other. It leaves a deep scar in the
heart of our significant other. They would feel so lonely and even lonelier
than before. They would feel all alone and being left behind. And the worst is
that they would not feel at home. “Listen,
I am alone at a crossroads, I’m not at home in my own home. And I’ve tried and
tried to say what’s on my mind, you should have known.” They would feel
lost. They would not feel like they belong. “I
don’t know where I belong, but I’ll be moving on, if you don’t, if you won’t listen
to the song here in my heart, a melody I start but I will complete.” And
the worst is that they would stop believing in us. It’s all because we won’t
listen. It’s all because we can’t understand. And it would lead them to leave. “Oh, now I’m done believing you, you don’t
know what I’m feeling. I’m more than what you’ve made of me. I followed the
voice you think you gave to me, but now I gotta find my own.”

"Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture" soundtrack album cover | source: en.wikipedia.org

Whether they realize
or not, people’s first reaction towards honesty is anger; because it’s like
they are being slapped right in the face by the brutal truth. Hence anger is a
natural human’s first defense mechanism. And when people got angry, they used
to say that they don’t want to hear anything anymore, that they don’t need any
explanation anymore. However, they just don’t think about the effect they cause
towards their partner when they say that. When their partner just laid the
honesty on the table, and then they got angry upon the honesty, and they won’t
listen to any further explanation, actually that is when they break their
partner’s heart. And the worst result can happen by that circle of events is
that we become apathetic and lose our faith because we are not being listened
by our partner; because our partner won’t listen to us. We’re hurt, and then we’re
hurt even more because we are not being listened. It’s hard enough for some
people to speak their mind; hence it will be very traumatic when all they got
is rejection when they do.

“I don’t know where I
belong, but I’ll be moving on, if you don’t, if you won’t listen to the song
here in my heart, a melody I start but I will complete. Oh, now I’m done
believing you, you don’t know what I’m feeling. I’m more than what you’ve made
of me. I followed the voice you think you gave to me, but now I gotta find my
own.” –Beyonce,
Listen

Listen to the song
here in my heart, a melody I start but can’t complete

Listen to the sound
from deep within, it’s only beginning to find release

Oh, the time has come
for my dreams to be heard

They will not be
pushed aside and turned into your own, all ‘cause you won’t listen

Listen, I am alone at
a crossroads, I’m not at home in my own home

And I’ve tried and
tried to say what’s on my mind, you should have known

Oh, now I’m done
believing you, you don’t know what I’m feeling

I’m more than what you
made of me, I followed the voice you gave to me

But now I gotta find
my own

You should have
listened, there is someone here inside

Someone I thought had
died so long ago

Oh, I’m screaming out,
and my dreams will be heard

They will not be
pushed aside or worse into your own all ‘cause you won’t listen

Listen, I am alone at
a crossroads, I’m not at home in my own home

And I’ve tried and
tried to say what’s on my mind, you should have known

Oh, now I’m done
believing you, you don’t know what I’m feeling

I’m more than what you
made of me, I followed the voice you gave to me

But now I gotta find
my own

I don’t know where I
belong, but I’ll be moving on, if you don’t, if you won’t

Listen to the song
here in my heart, a melody I start but I will complete

Oh, now I’m done
believing you, you don’t know what I’m feeling

I’m more than what
you’ve made of me, I followed the voice you think you gave to me